Insurance on
Northside still big unknown

Three weeks after a monster EF-5 tornado cut a 22-mile path through Neshoba County, no one can say for sure how much insurance coverage there is on Northside Park, which sustained an estimated $250,000 in damages, officials said.

Philadelphia Mayor James A. Young and Park Commission Chairman David Vowell said they were awaiting a report from the insurance adjustor who assessed the damage last week.

"We're waiting on the adjustor," Vowell said, noting that officials were also awaiting news about possible reimbursements from FEMA as part of a federal disaster declaration.

Once the city settles with the insurance company, Vowell said park officials would begin immediately restoring the two baseball fields which were left unplayable by the tornado.

"We are kinda sitting and waiting right now," he said.

The tornado destroyed the historic log cabin at the park as well as fencing, lighting and dugouts on the two baseball fields. Numerous trees were also downed.

Allen Hardy of Philadelphia Security Insurance said Tuesday that he expects to have the insurance adjustor's assessment by the end of the week.

The city also has business income coverage on the park, which Hardy said, would cover such things as loss of income from tournament fields and cabin rentals as well as concession sales.

"We won't have the final numbers on that this week," he said, noting that those figures were being assessed by accountants.

The Philadelphia Mayor and Board of Aldermen was expected to have discussed the log cabin, which once housed the public library, at its meeting last night (Tuesday).

Officials from the Department of Archives and History recommended that the city seek to have it designated as a historic landmark, which would allow grant monies to be pursued to restore it.

The city's insurance policy shows $39,000 in coverage for the log cabin at Northside as well as coverage for outdoor property such as fencing and lighting along with debris removal, Hardy said.

While the Imagination Fun Station playground is listed on the city's schedule of locations and buildings, as is the log cabin and the senior citizens center, the actual park property like dugouts, concession stands and lighting are not.

A $6 million renovation and expansion of Northside was completed in 2008.

Meanwhile, Neshoba County Emergency Management Director Jeff Mayo said debris removal from the tornado was expected to be completed later this week by crews from the county road department.

The vegetative debris is being burned at a site off Mississippi 21 north, the hardest hit area. Other types of debris are being taken to the county landfill off Deemer Road.

Three Kemper County women with Neshoba County ties died near Coy when the mobile home they were in was destroyed.

The storm damaged 91 structures in Neshoba County and left 32 residents displaced, although there were no serious injuries.

The tornado was the worst to hit the county since 1982 when three people were killed in the Fairview community, Mayo said.

On April 21, 1920, 12 people died in Neshoba County when a tornado demolished the Deemer lumber camp. At least 133 were killed in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee on that day 91 years ago.

In the tornado last month 36 Mississippians died.

Officials have yet to determine a monetary loss to Neshoba property owners caused by the April 27 tornado, Mayo said, noting the insurance adjustors were still assessing the damage along Mississippi 21 north.

A damage estimate shows the powerful tornadoes that hit the South in late April caused insured losses of up to $6 billion, the highest figure yet to emerge from disaster modelers, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

A single tornado that struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham in Alabama - the same one that touched down in Neshoba County - accounts for nearly 40 percent of the estimate from disaster-modeling company Risk Management Solutions.

The total insured losses from the violent weather that affected several states from April 25 to 28 will range from $3.5 billion to $6 billion, RMS said.

An estimate last Monday from rival modeler AIR Worldwide put the number at $3.7 billion to $5.5 billion, but included storms from a wider range of dates-April 22 to 28.

More than $1.6 million in federal and state aid has been approved for Mississippi storm survivors in 11 counties, including Neshoba and Kemper.

Residents in the declared counties can register for assistance with FEMA by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) or online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov. Help is available in most languages. Those with speech or hearing impairment may call (TTY) 800-462-7585. Disaster recover centers are also being established to help people navigate the disaster process.

Persons affected by the storms may also apply online at www.disasterassistance.gov or by web-enabled mobile device at www.m.fema.gov.

Mayo reminded residents who have registered with FEMA that they can visit a Disaster Recovery Center located at the Kemper County Sheriff's Department at 330 Stennis Industrial Park Road in DeKalb.

The Kemper County DRC will be closing and discontinuing operations at the close of business on Saturday, May 21. Hours daily are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.